On Sale Now!

Gods Who Walk Among Us

News

More Links Soon...

Talk, Rock, Kick, Ass

April 19th, 2010

Catching up a bit:

Liked the visual essay Less Talk More Rock on BoingBoing last month. Good approach to tackling a problem in games that assails every medium; how to reconnect with core principles and the unique potential of an art form in the face of commercial dilution and the imported sensibilities of other media.

Getting ”back to basics” can be much more than just turning back the clock. Taken in its more profound sense, it’s also the key to moving forward.

Saw Kick-Ass last night. Not bad, though our crowd might have been happier if the movie had just been called Hit-Girl (Yeah, yeah… balanced round-up of that little controversy here).

I confess to not having read many of Mark Millar’s comics yet, although I’ve noticed that every time he comes up, someone always seems to be angry at him. What’s that all about?

For me, the coolest part was seeing THE preview in a theater for the first time, and hearing SP name-checked in the movie.

Discussion (11)¬

Thought the movie was ok. The pacing at the climax was handled WAY better in the comic, and I found the protagonist in the comic more compelling; especially in regards to how he’s handled at the climax.

Oh yeah, and while Hit Girl was done perfectly, I thought they cheated Big Daddy by robbing him of the character arc they give him in the comic at the end. So I suppose I really liked the movie except for the last 20 min…

I haven’t seen the film yet (I’m gonna), but I’ve read the book (I love JRJR’s work).

Millar has been deliberately provocative throughout his career.
I usually don’t appreciate it. I thought Civil War was good. In the book, and I hope this isn’t too much of a spoiler, Dave comes across (in my eyes) as sexist, racist and a homophobe. That doesn’t mean Millar is, too, but Dave is given the main narrative voice and seems supposed to come across as this “everygeek”, like “this is a normal kid”. I definitively came away from Kick-Ass feeling bad.

I think Mark Millar is a bad writer. I don’t think he gives a damn about his characters, their development or their story arc. I think he writes bland stories with needless violence, it’s only purpose being base titillation. He gets his artist to draw huge, visually impressive scenes to grab attention and lull you into a false sense of someone “pushing the barriers” of modern superhero comics. It’s bullshit, He is the Michael Bay of comics; he makes the blockbuster comics that mean nothing, are completely shallow and suck up all the money. Sorry, rant over. i just hate the way he writes.

I find it’s the Superman graphic novel for people who hate Superman and the Mark Millar comic for people who hate Mark Millar.

I liked Kick-Ass, but never had an interest in Wanted after watching parts of the movie. Seemed a little silly for something that took itself that seriously. I think anyone that listens to a magical loom for orders on who to kill without any due process or oversight deserves to be betrayed.

Oh, man. The loom. No, the comic is very different. See, the kid doesn’t find out he’s picked to become an assassin to keep history going. Nope, instead he finds out he just inherited his father’s spot as one of the supervillains that secretly rule the world after they ganged up on the superheroes and killed every last one of the suckers. The conflict is if they should continue to rule in secret, or flaunt themselves and their costumes in public. Very Miller. And no loom at all.